


Ache

by INeedMoreHadesBeforeISwoon



Series: Night's Darkness [8]
Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Betrayal, F/M, Family Feels, M/M, Misunderstandings, Overworking, Protectiveness, Reunions, Stress, Torture, Wrongful Imprisonment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 17:14:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22467025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/INeedMoreHadesBeforeISwoon/pseuds/INeedMoreHadesBeforeISwoon
Summary: Persephone and Hades confront Thanatos about his parentage, and his (hidden?) brother.Erebus deals with troubling new developments from his white-eyed cycle.Everything comes apart....
Relationships: Erebus/Nyx (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Hades/Persephone (Lore Olympus), Hermes/Thanatos (Lore Olympus)
Series: Night's Darkness [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1607764
Comments: 9
Kudos: 29





	Ache

**Author's Note:**

> Get. Tissues. Now.
> 
> Seriously, just listen to your Swoonie.... Tissues. Now. Before you go any further.... I'll just take myself down to the pits of Artarus now, save you all the trouble of throwing me there later....
> 
> Warnings: and seriously, pay the hell attention to these, plus the tags up there:
> 
> Deep explorations of stress-induced nervous breakdown, anxiety, fear (and maybe a touch of paranoia).  
> Strange-form power overload, complete with severe loss of control.  
> The consequences of that loss of control, including torture of loved ones and tightly-binding punishment.  
> Descents into madness, fueled by events out of one's own control.
> 
> This Ache won't ease anytime soon, but I promise, there's a light, far away past the Night's Darkness....

Thanatos groaned as the coffee sloshed over the rim of the mug and onto the formica tabletop. The breakroom echoed the scrape of his chair’s metal-clad feet as he unsteadily rose and made his way to the paper towel canister on the wall by the sink. He tripped over his own feet and caught himself on the counter with one hand, rubbing his eyes with his free hand’s thumb and forefinger.

He’d have to get another cup of coffee, make up for spilling half of this one, if he was even going to make it through this shift….

He planted both hands on the countertop, hunching his shoulders and shivering his wings to try to relieve some of the tension holding him hostage. It didn’t work.

Never worked….

But he tried it anyway, out of habit if nothing else….

He sighed hard and snatched a few paper towels in his half-numb fingertips, turning back to the tabletop with the half-disemboweled mug.

Hermes was already there, swiping up the last of the brown liquid with a wadded-up rag or t-shirt or something, watching Thanatos with pure concern in his hazel eyes.

“Hey, Thanatos. You okay? I’ve never known you to waste good cuppa….”

Thanatos gulped, trying to bind the want, the need to _just_ _ask_ back behind his carefully-built, stubbornly-maintained walls.

“I’m alright. Just the fuckin’ chair or something, caught my wing or some shit, made me spill….”

He set his face into the hard lines of his shielding, praying to anything that might listen that Hermes wouldn’t push. He didn’t think he could fend off that gentle compassion, not today, not with so little sleep, so much worry.

Tears threatened, and he spun away, balling up the useless paper towels and hurling them into the bin between the sink and the fridge.

He turned back around, already preparing a sarcastic quip to send the red god flying from the breakroom, but-

Hazel eyes were inches from his own, and warm hands were on his upper arms, cupping his biceps and triceps firmly, lovingly, and the tears wouldn’t listen this time.

“Than, honey, what’s wrong…?”

He shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut, hating the moisture that betrayed him in two burning lines of need.

“Honey, talk to me…. Please? I’ll do puppy eyes….”

Thanatos huffed out a husky laugh, finally meeting those not-quite-puppy-yet eyes. “No, anything but that. Pure torture, that is….”

“Then talk to me….”

“I can’t.”

“Sure you can! I mean, we’ve…. Ya know…. And then some other ‘ya know….’ Sure you can talk to me!”

Hermes probably thought his smile was a winner for sure, but Thanatos knew it couldn’t be enough.

He couldn’t let it be enough.

“Sorry, sweet thing. Some other time.” The deflection came from long habit, and he wrapped his hands around Hermes’ waist where the crimson god was hovering in front of him so their eyes were on a level; he moved Hermes to the side, making to go back to his half-empty cup of bitter medicine.

He jerked to a swaying stop as his boss and the boss’ wife were suddenly there by the table.

_Oh no…._

_No, I’ve been doing better; I haven’t slacked as much! I’ve done all the paperwork, I swear I have…._

_Haven’t I?_

_Fuck, no, please._

“Hermes, can you give us a few minutes?”

“Sure, Perse, I mean…. Well, sure thing, boss lady!”

Hermes shot an encouraging, supportive smile at Thanatos, but those beautiful hazel eyes were worried.

Thanatos knew how that felt….

“’Sup, boss?” He tried to hide the fearful swallow in a nonchalant half-bow of near-deference. He wasn’t sure he’d pulled it off, judging by the concern in the pink one’s eyes.

It was her that answered, and he tried hard not to feel anything, only to listen, refusing to believe she was about to pronounce his doom.

“Well, Thanatos, we have a couple of questions, and do sense dragging this out: Why did you never tell anyone who your parents were…?”

_Oh, shit, oh hell no, this is badbadbadbadbad…._

He waved a hand through the air: casual and effortless, it had to seem that way no matter how he was trembling inside. “Didn’t see what it mattered. They’re locked up, and that has no impact on my work. By the way, I really like the new filing system: definitely more streamlined, it’s a far cry better than the ribbon color-coding thing….”

_Did they buy it…?_

_Nope._

“Okay, then why didn’t you ever tell anyone you had a brother? And is he okay…?”

Hades’ black gaze was intent on Thanatos’ ice-blue eyes, and there they were again, stupid tears, stupidstupidstupid….

“Please, boss. I can’t lose this job. I’ve been doing better, I have, you know I have! Please, I can keep it up this time, please!” He spun away, straining to keep from sobbing, everything crashing down around him, everythingeverythingeverything and nothing at all….

A tiny hand between his wings; she’d feel how broken he was inside, but he couldn’t hit her, she’s the Queen, sure to lose his job if he touched her, but _she_ was touching _him_ ….

“Thanatos, you’re not losing your job. You have been doing better, we’ve noticed. But we’re just trying to figure out what’s going on, because your parents want… well, _need_ to see you. And Hypnos, and it just doesn’t make much sense, is all….”

His knees gave out from under him, and he barely managed to angle backward a little to keep from cracking his chin on the rim of the sink. A deep voice of gravel and a lighter windchime song followed him in misty echoes into the darkness.

* * *

Persephone scooted a little away along the couch in the Level 87 breakroom as Thanatos kicked; the fear in his sky-blue eyes as he realized he’d nearly unintentionally hip-shot the Queen, his boss’ wife on top of being also-his-boss, had her heart pounding in her chest in sympathy.

“Thanatos, it’s okay; everything’s okay, really.”

He only panted, staring at her like a mouse pinned by a cobra.

Her husband’s voice rumbled over her head, and his fingers massaged gently over her shoulders; unconsciously or not, the touch sent butterflies into her tummy at the strength and power he wielded over her flesh. She struggled to focus. “I’d give ya a solemn vow that your job is safe no matter your parentage, but I think that’s not what’s got you so stressed out. Look, I’m no stranger to overwork, but I’ve never seen anyone overwork so hard for no reason. Talk to us, Thanatos, and we’ll see what we can do to help.”

Persephone nodded, putting all her heart into her gentle smile of encouragement.

_Talk to us and let us help. You can’t take much more of whatever this is…._

“…. You promise I’m not losing my job…?” His voice, usually so suavely-brazen, arrogant to just beneath the point of rude, sounded far too like a lost child for Persephone to reconcile, but she nodded again as her husband swore that oath. “…. Hypnos is okay, but also not really. It’s just…. It’s so hard, it’s been hard, I can’t trust anyone else, they wouldn’t understand! He can’t help it, if he tries too hard, he has seizures, and that’s why I have to keep our apartment, everything’s in exactly the right spot, and there’s nothing he can hurt himself on while I’m at work, or out, or….” The trembling god panted heavily for a moment before swallowing around tears and pressing on, more slowly but still intense as if his entire existence depended on making them see. “I have to have this job, but it’s just gotten harder to rest when I’m off. His power doesn’t work on me, never has, and the last few years, it’s just…. I’ve been tired for so long my fingertips ache…. That’s why I nearly knocked you down that first day, in the train station, Majesty. I just knew I wouldn’t have the strength to fly on-shift, and I needed to get to work somehow!”

She gasped softly as pieces she’d always wondered about fell into place. Thanatos had never been outright mean to her since that day, but she’d always wondered if there hadn’t been some reason….

“And, boss, the raises I keep asking for…. I’m sorry, I know I didn’t deserve them then, but I’m almost ready to ask again, and I beg ya to think it over fresh. See, Hypnos, he can’t eat a lot of things, and somethings he outright can’t have, and some of his favorite things are getting harder to find…. On top of that, there’s been talk for months that the landlord is gonna hike the rent, and we can’t move, we’ve spent too much money and time making our apartment safe and comfortable, and our neighbors don’t ask questions about why a single jerk needs so much space…. I just….” He closed his eyes and sighed, hard, his shoulders falling as he visibly released this last worry to their knowledge, as this last secret was wrung from him, as the last defenses were thrown away in desperation for help.

“That’s why I’ve been a jerk all these years. I’m not, really; I’m a good guy, but I couldn’t keep my brother safe if we had friends wanting to come over. And after a while, it was just easier to keep the mask on…. But I’m tired of it all, and I don’t know what to do, and I just want my dad!”

The death-pale god brought his knees to his chest on the couch, wrapping his arms around them and burying his face against the bony peaks. His wings followed his arms, hiding him from the King and Queen’s teary gaze as he sobbed from the overwhelming strain of eons….

* * *

He blinked at the paper folded over his nose, crossing his eyes as the little black marks drew his attention in blurry lines of shadow against the sepia-toned surface. He chuckled as he moved a heavy hand up to pull the book off his face, his thumb fitting into the valley at the bottom of the thing as he groaned back up to an upright position on the couch.

“Well, not my most graceful….”

He plucked the fray-edged ocean-blue ribbon from the coffee table, fingers bumping clumsily against his apple and away it rolled. He laughed, the sound still quiet enough that the neighbors wouldn’t figure things out.

He wondered if it might be time to ask Thanatos for a change….

He understood how protective his older brother was, and he loved him for it. But honestly, this whole hidden-hermit thing was getting out of hand!

But then again, Than worked pretty much constantly, trying to keep food in the cabinets and the lights on as expenses grew out of all proportion to common sense. And whenever Than did manage to score a little free time, Hypnos nearly shoved him out the door, all but locking his brother out so Thanatos could have some fun, find some relaxation away from the worry for a night or two.

It helped that Than had Hermes now. Hypnos was pretty sure Than didn’t know that he knew; Than had been very careful to never bring Hermes here, to the apartment, just like he never brought anybody here, keeping Hypnos safe from judgmental gods who wouldn’t understand his condition, keeping Hypnos safe from that stress. But Than didn’t know he sometimes talked in his sleep, when he _finally_ slept, and he _always_ slept after Hypnos shoved him out and made him spend the night away, elsewhere….

Thanatos had been saying Hermes’ name a lot the past few months, deep in the nights following his nights-out….

Hypnos would have to find a way to thank Hermes, whoever he was, for helping his brother find some rest and happiness in this reclusive darkness.

The door to the apartment creaked as Thanatos came suddenly home. Hypnos spun on the couch, ribbon-marked book sliding to cushion beside him as he stared at Than’s tear-marked face. “Bro, you’re crazy early; is everything okay?”

Than nodded, moving to the couch and wrapping Hypnos into a weak-armed hug. Than’s wings wrapped them up, too, and Hypnos sighed as he felt his brother’s love and a new-sparking hope in that embrace.

“Yeah. Mom and Dad wanna see us; go get dressed, the King and Queen will be here in a bit to take us there….”

Hypnos pulled back, a victorious smile baring his teeth right in his brother’s face.

“I _told_ you I felt something was coming….”

Thanatos smiled back, brushing Hypnos’ curls behind his ear. Hypnos shivered; it had been far too long since Thanatos had been so soft.

_About damn fucking time…._

_He either had to bend or he was gonna break…._

_And I couldn’t have that pain on my hands…._

He rose to his feet, his fingertips and toes half-numb still from his spell earlier. He held it together until he entered his room, closing the door, and stumbling toward the bed as the tremors started.

_Dammit. Too excited, too much too fast, gotta…._

He wiped the sweat from his forehead as he bent his knees beneath him, stifling a cry as his back twinged when he finally raised himself to a kneeling position on the bed. He arched as far as he could, compressing the overworked muscles before rolling back forward, stretching them the other away.

He sighed hard before moving off the bed and toward his wide-opened walk-in closet.

_Than isn’t the only one that needs to see Mom and Dad…._

_This is getting out of hand…._

He hummed as he dug through the racks of fabric, searching for _just_ the right one to present a put-together image before the Monarchs and their parents.

_Big day. Knew it was gonna be a big day…._

_Had a feeling…._

* * *

Erebus prowled back and forth over the clifftop, fighting the burning rage that flashed through him like starbursts, like snowfall, like novas of atomic expansion….

He felt his night-song’s concern, her eyes following his every movement, her mind trying to anchor his as whatever-the-hell-this-was threatened his sanity, ripping him apart from inside….

He heard her quiet breath and ground his jaw against the urge to snarl a wordless command at her to leave him be.

“Still not any better, Erebus…?”

He shook his head, pacing still, a rumbling growl of aimless temper hastily bitten off as his eyes flashed white and his power unbound in an uncontrolled and uncontrollable spastic burst. He rebound immediately, but still the shockwave echoed in their prison.

He trembled even as he raged within his mind, worried now that their captor, that fearful-angry little blue god, would feel this, would think he was attempting escape….

But he wasn’t, could barely think to even decide if he could channel this that way, but knew he wouldn’t make that choice if he could keep his own mind intact….

Trouble was, it seemed that last bit was the piece that was crumbling apart without a care for how it would hurt his heart….

Both of them: the one in his own chest, and the one struggling not to bite at her own nails as his fitful emotions turned him into something nearly unrecognizable.

He snarled again, glaring at her as his eyes went dead-white once more, but then the fever finally seemed to break.

As sudden as it had come, it faded, and he stood there, trembling, half-turned toward her as she checked him over with eyes and mind, disbelief marking her raised brows and worried mouth….

“I’m…. I think it’s done, Nyx. I’m okay…. I think….”

He waited for her, refusing to scare her further by moving toward her.

She shuffled her wings, brushing off the worry and all but skipping over to him, her bare feet dancing over the lichen-crusted stone and his favorite smile on her lips.

“Well, good! I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love your snarly voice, but there’s a time and place, darkness mine….”

He chuckled half-heartedly at her tease, letting her pull his head down for a kiss.

The aether-bell clanged, and he grumbled incoherently as she spun away from him. She elbowed him in the ribs, _hard_ , though she flung a quick “Sorry” at him before taking his hand and dragging him forward toward the shimmering portal. They stopped halfway there as the blue godling stepped through first, bident angled toward their chests, fixing them with a steel-and-iron gaze to keep them from coming closer.

They trembled with the waiting as their boys stepped through the portal next, followed by Praxidike’s beaming form. The portal closed, and Erebus and Nyx rushed their boys, not caring for the way Hades darted to shield Persephone behind his own body with the bident still threatening their physical existences.

Their boys, both their boys, were here, alive, and….

Not well, surely not, but here, and that would be enough….

Erebus wrapped one arm each around his boys, pulling them to him, and Nyx dove under his arm to wrap both of hers around Hypnos’ chest.

They stood that way, swaying slightly as the emotional currents rocked them all, until the shock and wonder and need for physical contact finally eased. Nyx pulled Hypnos from his grasp, jabbering away quietly as she led their youngest child away for a talk, and Erebus jerked his head toward the opposite wall, old patterns re-establishing without conscious thought.

Their boys may have come into the world together, and been closer than thought and emotion for their entire lives, but Erebus and Nyx had discovered long ago that their boys would never speak freely if they were approached about hard things together.

They cared too much for their brother’s feelings, and only felt safe discussing their hearts if they were split up like this.

The way Thanatos sighed and leaned against Erebus’ left side as they walked away told him just how much those early habits were needed now, and he pushed his own worries about his fragile headspace away, far away and deep down, to be what his son, his beautiful winged boy, his far-too-caring heir, needed him to be in whatever time they had.

**_Thanatos, it’s okay. I’m here…. I love you, little icicle…._ **

_Oh gods, Dad, I’ve missed you…._

**_I’ve missed you, too, but we’ll be free soon, you’ll see. And then things will ease up._ **

_Dad…. I’m just so tired, I never should have kept things so quiet! I’m sorry, I didn’t tell anyone who we really were; I didn’t even tell anyone about Hypnos, I thought it was the only way to keep him safe! But it’s only gotten harder, harder to keep up the charade, and I hate who I became! I just don’t know what to do…._

The memories poured from his son’s mind to his, showing him beyond the words what his son really meant. He saw the mask, the need-and-hate for the scornful persona that camouflaged and protected his son’s fragile heart when he had no one to lean on….

He knew what his son needed to hear, and he poured every rushing tide of love and caring he held in his shadows through the simple words, the far too simple words….

**_I’m proud of you, Thanatos. You’ve done so well for such a trial. I’m proud of you, my brilliant boy…._ **

He held his son as Thanatos collapsed to his knees, sobbing brokenly into his shadow-himation’s shoulder-band. He held his son, and took all the pain and worry and fear he could from his achingly-tired boy’s mind….

He held his son, and knew they had to get out of this box.

Their boys needed them….

* * *

_Hypnos, honey, how are you…?_

_ Fine, Mom. I mean, tired, ya know, like usual!  _

_Always with the jokes…._

_ Learned from the best…! _

_How are your sisters…?_

_ Well, we see Hemera every so often. She keeps sending these huge bundles of letters back with Thanatos when they cross paths in the mortal realm on shift. Oh, she’s back working with Helios again. Well, more like, she’s managing Helios now, which is fun! See, the Queen there, she tore her rapist, Apollo, a new one, and demoted him big time upstairs, and then she promoted Hemera, so Hemera basically just makes sure Helios does what he does, and files some paperwork. It’s a grand old job, based on some of the letters I’ve peeked say. I mean, they’re actually for you and Dad, but I didn’t think you’d mind. _

_ Oh, and Than has a boyfriend, I think…. _

_Well, that’s…. What about the Moirai?_

_ Oh. Um, well, they work for Hades and Persephone, too, or work with, or alongside or something, but we don’t see them much. They hardly ever leave their office, from what Than says, and they’ve never told anybody that we’re family either. Than says they like the mystery, but I don’t know if they’re not just scared, too, like Than was. But don’t let him know I said that. He’s been second-guessing keeping you guys and us secret these last few years, anyway, since it got round that Persephone was gon’ be Queen. He knew what you’d said about Praxidike, and he figured that was her. It is, isn’t it? _

_Yep. She is._

_ …. He’s tired, Mom. Real tired. The stress, it’s eating both of us alive. I haven’t really gotten better; the more I try, the worse the seizures get. But I can’t just live like a hermit the rest of my immortal life. I’m ready to try something new, but I don’t know how to convince Than…. I think if he had somebody he could trust, to help him step back and let me handle things a little more than he has, maybe we could both get a little space…. But I hate asking him for that, he’s really attached to this whole twins-stick-together thing, you know?! _

_I know. But there’s one thing certain about immortals: Long Lives Breed Slow Changes…._

They giggled together at the truth of the old joke, and Nyx felt Erebus reaching for her.

_Ready to switch?_

**_If you and Hypnos are…._ **

_Hypnos, go see your father now, okay?_

_ Kay, Mom. Love ya. _

_Love you, sweet boy._

She smiled softly as Thanatos crept over to her, as her consort wrapped their younger son in his long arms.

_Hey, boy-mine. Come here, you been taking care of your wings?_

_ Of course, Mom…. _

_Lemme see._

Her winged boy, the only one of her children with wings, knelt in front of her, their knees nearly touching as he spread his wings out to either side. She purred at the starshine trapped in his feathers, the healthful fluff near the bones, the supple way they moved.

_Oh, my boy, how beautiful! So beautiful, I can’t help but wonder if they’ve caught anyone’s eye yet!_

_ Mom!!! _

_Oh, lookit you blush, come on, spill!_

_ Look, I know you and Dad. You’re not that hard up for gossip, Mom, come on…. _

_Tell me, or I’ll start guessing…._

_ Fuck…. _

He gulped them, tilting his head away as he realized he’d cursed in front of his mother. To his mother.

She threw her head back and cackled, and he stared at her as she barely regained control.

_You can spew all the vulgarities you like, Than! You’re a grown up! Now, tell your crazy Momma who you’re seeing in the dark of night…._

_ Well, he’s sweet…. So sweet…. He’s the first…. My…. You know…. _

_Oh, baby, really? You waited that long…?_

_ Um…. Couldn’t really find the time until now. Or the want to…. _

_So, he’s sweet…. What else?_

_ His eyes are so pretty. Green-brown, they shine with his skin; bright crimson, kinda…. Almost like Dad’s eyes. _

_Oh, he sounds gorgeous, baby, I’m so happy for you!_

_ Mom…? _

_Hmmmm?_

_ Is Dad okay? His eyes…. White-flash…. Is he okay? _

Nyx swallowed, unwilling to lie to her far-too-perceptive winged-boy-child.

_We’ll be okay. It’ll all turn out right in the end…._

She held her son close and wrapped her ragged wings around him, bundling him tight to her body until he relaxed in her swaying hold.

_It has to be alright in the end…._

* * *

**_Well, boy, how’s things?_ **

_Fine, Dad…. Read a great book yesterday; I mean, I’d read it before, but-_

**_No dodging, Hypnos…._ **

His life-bright son glared at him, and he chuckled with grim victory. Erebus catalogued every line of Hypnos’ mortal-seeming face: the tan cheeks, the cocoa-brown eyes above blue-grey shadows of skin, the lean nose and delicate brows. His auburn hair hung in long ringlet curls over his ears, bundled high on top of his head to keep the long brow-strands from obscuring his vision.

_Things could be better, but I don’t really know how. We’ve done alright. About as well as could be expected, I think. Than’s nearing the end of his tether, and I’m just not sure how to get him to fall and let me catch him this time, you know?_

**_I know…. But we’ll be free soon. Praxidike promised us…. How about, when we are, you come back home with us for a while? That will give your brother a little space, and it won’t be asking him to trust some stranger or near-stranger with what you need…._ **

_No…. No, I don’t think so. If we’re going to separate…. If I’m moving away from Thanatos, I want to try standing on my own two feet…. I-_

Erebus caught his son as his power overwhelmed him, brushing the sudden beads of sweat from his sun-kissed cheeks and brow. Hypnos’ mahogany eyes fluttered open, staring up at Erebus with a slowly-forming sheepish grin.

_Oooops…._

**_Foot in mouth is a serious ailment, and no mistake…._ **

They laughed quietly at nearly the same time Nyx cackled across the cliff.

_Oh, my, she’s still got that laugh, huh?_

**_Mmmmm-hmmmmm…._ **

_Dad?_

**_Sorry, Hypnos…._ **

_It’s not foot in mouth if I really do want to grow up that last little bit. I may never ditch the sleepies. Or the seizures. But I think I’m beyond old enough to try to fend for myself. Help me help Than see that?_

**_…. Of course, my wise boy. Of course…._ **

He held his youngest son, rocking softly back and forth as Nyx pulled Thanatos within her wings and soothed him, too….

* * *

Hades cleared his throat, and Persephone resisted the urge to dig an elbow into his ribs.

She could feel it, too; the power in this cell was beginning to realize the strangers within it, and ancient power meant to bind ancient beings would not obey when _others_ were suddenly where they should not be.

They’d told Thanatos and Hypnos they wouldn’t have long, but she still had hoped that it would be longer than ten short minutes.

“Thanatos, it’s time to go.” Her husband’s voice rang out over the cliff, and Persephone watched as the two gods turned to their parents, speaking without words, explaining the necessity that nonetheless would never surmount the aching sorrow of being given so little time after far too long….

But the Titans released their near-strangleholds on their sons, and all four beings rose and came together on the clifftop once more, embracing all together before death-pale Thanatos and his mortal-seeming brother left their parents and walked toward the portal fizzing into existence behind and between Hades and Persephone.

Persephone turned tear-filled eyes to Hades and the twins entered the portal, and then both Monarchs stared in horror as a thundering growl ripped the air from Erebus, more than fifty feet away on the stone.

Persephone had never felt such instinctive fear, not when she tore her own justice from Apollo’s soul and flesh, not when she pricked her fingers and sealed her blood to the crown that was now her own, not when she was introduced to the mighty sea-Titan Okeanos or the other ancients bound in walls of their own.

White eyes in a face of shadows stole all her wits as an unbound and enraged ancient Titan-king rushed toward the portal between her and Hades….

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

“ _My Darkness, no, come back to me; we have to be good! Come back!”_

Nyx watched the portal close, her consort slamming into the illusion wall and boiling over the flat surface, a keening howl whipping the reality of the chamber as he clawed and tore at the non-existent gateway. She barely spared a thought for the pink goddess lying sprawled on the stone to one side, the blue god rising to a predator’s crouch on the other side. She reached, _reached_ , for her consort’s mind, dashing over the clifftop, trying to make him listen, make him see-

She bit off a wordless gasp as fire wrapped her broken wings; her knees hit the stone, and she knelt, stiff-backed and hurting, refusing to cry, refusing to make this worse.

She’d be good, and he’d be good, too….

He’d promised.

She whimpered when links of soulfire metal coiled around her throat like a snake, her tears turning to vapor in the heat….

* * *

**_freedom no more walls right here was right here freedom somewhere have to help my boys have to find the wind chase the stars have to breathe breathe breathe_ **

**_no…._ **

He shot down from the walls, rebinding with a desperate thought, his fingers trembling above her cheeks; she gasped without breath, and the smoke and steam burned his white-flaring eyes, forcing the strange-rut temper-hate away as he realized he’d done this, he’d caused her this terrible-

“ ** _Please make it stop!”_**

He fell to his knees between his bound-and-burning consort and their captor, staring up into hard iron-eyes, ignoring the pricking points of the bident on his collarbones.

**_“It was me, not her, she only tried to stop me, please, stop hurting her, she doesn’t deserve it, please!”_ **

The bident left his skin, was thrust high into the air, and the box opened, waiting….

He spun, scraping his knees on the stone, hating the fear, the insanity behind her eyes that matched his own….

Alike even in this, and this the only way.

He gave a broken cry of horror and pain for them both as he unbound and poured through the air, an inverted cascade of shadows and misted-darkness, cramming all he was into the box as his consort gave a strangled cry as he left her once more….

* * *

Persephone’s head rang; she saw the tableau before her through a haze, heard broken words through a fog….

The glass-bound being shattered again, darkness rising upward and disappearing into a smaller doorway into nothing.

Lines of fire stretching from her husband’s hand, the one not holding the bident aloft in command, wrapped around scorching stardust wings, a strangled cry breaking her heart through the mental fog as the ringing faded from her ears.

“Hades, stop!”

Her husband only clenched his fingers, and Nyx choked as her wings sizzled further, ash rising on wafts of steam from her fire-bound wings.

**_“Hades, stop!”_ **

Praxidike slashed a hand through the air, and the Chains of Tartarus broke apart into flakes of soot and molten sparks. Nyx collapsed, shoulders locked and trembling fingers clawing against the stone, heaving ragged breaths through her damaged throat.

Persephone dashed to the Titan’s side, one hand lightly cupping that rounded shoulder.

Nyx croaked out a scream, thrashing away, nothing but fear in her eyes as she finally focused on Persephone’s face.

“Shhhh, let me help you, it’s okay….”

Nyx shook her head back and forth, tearing the scorched surfaces of the skin around her throat, lips and tongue working soundlessly, far too fast for Persephone to read. Persephone defied the Titan, reaching across the distance and holding Nyx in place by the force of her gaze, by her authority as Praxidike, Justice in Full….

She called up the energy of Life she’d only barely begun to master with Hecate’s aid, reforming broken skin and charred muscle into healthy tissue in a steady wash from where her fingers pressed gently into the bounding pulse below the chain-marks around Nyx’s neck.

As she completed the healing, Nyx’s wispy voice could be heard, breathily repeating the phrase she’d been mouthing since she met Persephone’s tear-filled eyes.

_“I’ll be a good girl. I’ll be a good girl. I’ll be a good girl, good girl, I’ll be good….”_

Hades’ arm locked suddenly around Persephone’s waist, pulling her against his chest and dragging her with him toward the portal she hadn’t felt him call up. She screamed, clawed, refusing to believe her husband could be so cruel, so terrible and dark, but her fear and the strain of the past few minutes refused to let her think clearly enough to call up any of her power, and she could only scream and claw and deny what had happened as Hades took them through the portal and back to his office in the penthouse of Tower One….

The last view she’d had of Nyx had been of a slowly-shaking head in profile, one sharp pink thumbnail held between glinting fangs, scorched wings limp behind a hunched-over spine and knees bent tight to a bony chest….

* * *

_I’ll be good…._

_I’ll be a good girl…._

_Good girls get treats…._

_I’ll be good…._

_And he’ll let him come back to me…._

_If I’m a good girl…._

_I’ll be good…._

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not done hurting you, but I promise, it all turns out right in the end....
> 
> I expect comments more than kudos here. Feel free to rage. To weep. To beg.
> 
> I'll post from the depths of Artarus soon....
> 
> (credit for the art goes to kipine.deviantart.com, even if they don't know I borrowed it....)


End file.
